Homeschooling is a Piece of Cake V

Classical Education

The Classical Education philosophy has produced great minds throughout history. The modern proponent of the Classical model was British writer and medieval scholar Dorothy Sayers. As the Nazis rose to power in the 1930s, Sayers warned that schools were teaching children everything except how to think. Because young adults could no longer think for themselves, Sayers felt that they could be easily influenced by whatever tyrant came along. To remedy this, Sayers proposed reinstating the classical form of education used in the Middle Ages.

In Classical Education, children under 18 are taught the tools of learning collectively known as The Trivium. The Trivium has three parts, each part corresponding to a childhood developmental stage.

The first stage of the Trivium, the Grammar Stage, covers early elementary ages and focuses on reading, writing, and spelling; the study of Latin; and developing observation, listening and memorization skills. The goal of this stage is to master the elements of language and develop a general framework of knowledge.
At approximately middle school age children begin to demonstrate independent or abstract thought (usually by becoming argumentative or opinionated). This signals the begging of the Dialect Stage or “Logic” stage in which the child’s tendency to argue is molded and shaped by teaching logical discussion, debate, and how to draw correct conclusions and support them with facts. The goal of this stage is to equip the child with the language and thinking skills capable f the detecting fallacies in an argument. Latin study is continued, with the possible addition of Greek and Hebrew. The student reads essays, arguments, and criticisms instead of literature as I the Grammar Stage. History study leans toward interpreting events. Higher math and theology begin.

The final of phase of the Trivim, The Rhetoric Stage, seeks to produce a student who can use language, both written and spoken, eloquently and persuasively. Students are usually ready for this stage by age 15.

This is the philosophy that I would say that I follow. I do however borrow heavily from the other educational models.












Websites for Classical Education:

The Well Trained Mind

Veritats Press

Trivium Pursuit

Memoria Press

Thomas Jefferson Education